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﻿﻿Grievance Procedures for Students Affiliated with the Office of Accommodative Services

Preamble
The objective of these grievance procedures is to provide students affiliated with the Office of Accommodative Services with a fair and expeditious way to resolve a claimed grievance. This objective is pursued through the use of both informal communication and, if necessary, the formal grievance process.

Definition A grievance exists when there is a claimed violation, misinterpretation or inequitable application existing rules, procedures or regulations of the Office of Accommodative Services, or when there is a claimed failure to apply these rules, procedures or regulations.

These grievance procedures do not apply to matters that are subject to review by other designated University personnel or hearing bodies (including without limitation sanctions for violations of the Code of Student Conduct, the Code of Ethics, or Athletics Department policies, codes, rules or regulations).

If a student suspects that he/she has been discriminated against because of race, gender, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual preference, veteran or marital status that a person has a right to seek to correct the perceived offence. In such cases, the Discrimination Grievance Procedures supplant the present Grievance Procedures for Students Affiliated with the Office of Accommodative Services. Please see the Discrimination Grievance Procedure.

Informal Procedure
Any student with a grievance relating to accommodations should promptly consult with the Director of Accommodative Services. Every effort should be made to solve the problem informally.

A student may also choose to pursue mediation with the person by whom he or she feels aggrieved. If your grievance is with a faculty member, then the Director of Accommodative Services will assist you in mediating a resolution. If your grievance is with the Director of Accommodative Services, the designated representative of the ADA will assist in mediating a resolution.

Mediation will be handled in a way that respects the confidentiality of the student and honors the Confidentiality and Release of Information Agreement.

Formal Procedure In the event that informal consultations or mediation have not resolved the grievance, the student bringing the complaint may present the grievance, in writing, to the next appropriate administrative level (e.g., if the complaint is with a faculty member, then the grievant should address the faculty member’s department chair; if the problem is with the Assistant Director of the Office of Accommodative Services, the Director of the Office of Accommodative Services, then the grievance should be submitted to the Associate Vice President, Student Success Center, Catherine McNamara. This written statement of the grievance should be submitted within ten school days from the date informal consultations ended. The administrator receiving this grievance should review the matter, decide upon what actions, if any, are appropriate, and should inform the grievant and the party or parties against whom the grievance was filed of this decision in writing. The administrator’s written response to the grievant should be sent within ten work/school days of receipt of the grievance.

If, after following the procedures outlined above, the student still believes the grievance exists, he or she may petition the ADA Committee for a formal hearing. This petition must be submitted within ten work/school days of receipt of the written, administrative response described in the paragraph above. Within eight school/work days of receipt of the grievant’s petition for a hearing, a designated member of the ADA Committee should inform the grievant of the date set for the formal hearing. The date of the formal hearing should be as early as practicable, but should not be more than ten school/work days subsequent to the notification sent to the grievant regarding the date set for the formal hearing.

The ADA hearing shall be conducted by members of the ADA Committee who have not had prior involvement in the aforementioned process and will be chaired by a designated member of the Committee.

The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether University policy with regard to the accommodative process has been followed and, if not, to address the consequences that may have resulted and may need to be corrected. Information relevant to the matter may be requested from the involved parties. All reasonable efforts will be made to provide a written response to the student within 10 school days. A student who makes use of the grievance procedure shall not be retaliated against for doing so. A student may request another student or faculty or staff person to accompany him or her through the steps of the procedure.

After the review, a student who believes that a grievance has not been resolved to his or her satisfaction may appeal the outcome within 30 days to the Vice President for University Outreach and Student Affairs or designee.

Such appeal shall be in writing and signed by the student. The Vice President of University Outreach and Student Affairs or the designee will make a determination on the appeal and promptly inform the student, in writing, of that decision.

This is the final institutional level of appeal.

While the calendar deadlines detailed in these procedures are designed to ensure the timely review of a grievance, they should not be imposed too rigidly; instead, they should be interpreted so as to accommodate the academic calendar of the student submitting the grievance (e.g. the pressures of final exam week, the presence of summer break, etc.).

Office of Civil Rights

Students may also file a discrimination complaint with the Office of Civil Rights either with or without utilizing our institutional grievance procedures. The Office of Civil Rights accepts complaints at ocr@ed.gov and via their electronic complaint form found at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintintro.html. More information on how to file a complaint with OCR can be found on the U.S. Department of Education website, http://www.ed.gov.